The prof and two trusty assistants intend to knock on doors of various communes all over Britain asking if they can crash awhile to get into the scene, as it were.

Prof reckons the family unit has come in for a bit of stick in several post-industrialised societies like our own and so perhaps the commune might teach the nation about alternatives.

Various Government departments, he says, are interested in the alternatives to family life.

And after all, there are at least 100 active communes in Britain, one which even dates back to the 1880s if that isn't a responsible pedigree.

But it is already known that the reaction of some communes to Prof's team of pencil sharpeners has been rather cool, if not cold.

For some communes die rather quickly for personal reasons, money problems, or because they get busted for dope by the fuzz.

However, we have no reason to doubt that Prof is clear in his own mind as to exactly which Government departments will have access to his research findings.

Belinda